Here Are The Winners Of The One-Sentence Pitch Competition

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Over the weekend, we hosted a fun contest from the Founder Institute, where entrepreneurs posted a one-sentence pitch for their companies. We received more than 450 pitches, of which 421 followed the designated format (“My company, _(insert name of company)_, is developing _(a defined offering)_ to help _(a defined audience)_ _(solve a problem)_ with _(secret sauce)_”).

Now, Adeo Ressi and his team have spent 15 hours to go through all of the entries, and they’ve chosen their winners.

You can see the winning pitches, as well as Ressi’s commentary, below. If you’re a winner or a runner up, use this contact form to claim your prizes (a Founder Institute scholarship and a table at the Founder Showcase for the winner, a VIP pass to the showcase for the runners up). The event will be held in San Francisco’s Mission Bay Conference Center starting from 1pm to 8pm today, which means that it starts in … a little less than four hours. (Why yes, this was incredibly well-planned, why do you ask?) So you probably want to claim your prize now.

WINNER
“My company, Airto, is developing a web-based social seating check-in platform to help air travelers see who is on board their flight and use Facebook and Linked in to assign all flight seats with one click.”

– This idea will resonate with every business traveler, especially if it is executed in an easy to use way. When you spend over 15% of your life on an airplane, it starts to matter who you sit next to: Jeff Clavier en route to Singapore or… This could have a real impact on the displeasure of travel.

5 RUNNERS UP:
“My company, GradeZone Points, is developing an online and mobile platform to help socially-conscious businesses reward high school students for good grades and good attendance with deals and local programs that inspire a community-wide concern for education.”

– The idea is excellent. We made some edits to improve the pitch, which cost the pitch the winning spot. Inspiring the community to help ensure education is a noble goal.

“My company, LintinZone, is developing a social shipping network to help customers buy stuff from all over the world without worrying about the cost and availability of international shipping and travelers earn extra money during their trips.”

– This is a very original idea. It seems perfect for the growing reality of global commerce and youth travel. Who knows if it will work, but major applause for originality.

“My company, GiftWoo, is developing a gift recommendation engine to help men foster better relationships through periodic and thoughtful romantic gestures, utilizing behavioral science, models of preference and social trends.”

– Most men probably need this. The demographic is too broad, but the need is real. The simplicity of the pitch works.

“My company, Bragnation, is developing a virtual stock market to help startups reach their target audience by allowing them to virtually trade shares with their friends and the community.”

– The idea for a virtual stock market is interesting. Everything else is being measured. Why not measure the potential of a new startup, and then reward that potential with real beta users.

“My company, Zoot Interactive, is developing a mobile app to help college students find free food on campus in partnerships with organizations to increase traffic at their events.”

“My company, Aspird.com, is developing a mobile app to help public restroom users check-in and share their aspirations and wishes while having a bowel movement with – the secret sauce – an instant community feedback system supported by an interest and location based ads aggregator.”

– Hold on, I’ll be right back… Yes, it’s with secret sauce.

“My company, CartCliq, is developing a mobile app that will help roommates and couples quickly create and auto-merge their shopping lists into one master list that can be updated between them in real time, thereby eliminating the need for said shoppers to utter the words, ‘but I’m already at the checkout.’, ‘Dude, can you watch my cart while I run to the back of the store for soy butter?’ or ‘No, I didn’t see your text… yes, I’ll turn the car around and get more Red Bull.’ ever again.”

– Duuuuuude!

“My company, Dropdock, is developing a cross-platform software to help anyone.”

– Awesome!

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OverviewFounder Institute operates as an early-stage startup accelerator which enables entrepreneurs to launch new technology companies.
It conducts training, program sessions, and public events. The company provides sessions on startup research, naming and branding, hiring and firing, revenue and cost, product development, marketing and sales, and fundraising. It has partnership with Kalliolaw- Attorneys …

BioAdeo Ressi is the Founder & CEO of the Founder Institute, an entrepreneur training and startup launch program that has helped start over 1000 technology companies across 6 continents.
He is also the Founding Member of TheFunded.com, an online community of over 20,000 CEOs to research, rate, and review funding sources worldwide. The Institute is the eighth start-up that
Adeo has founded or built, …